Course Descriptions

ECONOMICS (ECO) 4312 Business Cycles and Forecasting
Prerequisite(s): ECO 1305 or a minimum grade of C in ECO 2306 and 2307; not open to pre-business students.
Examines basic causes of fluctuation in business activity. Topics include an examination of exogenous and endogenous influences on Gross National Product and other measures of economic activity, and the relationship between cycles in Gross National Product and cycles in particular industries and companies. The course emphasizes methods and techniques currently in use by business forecasters. Fee: $50

4323 The Environment and Economic Analysis
(Cross-listed as AVS 4323 and ENV 4323)
See ENV 4323 for course information.

4345 Mathematical Analysis in Economics
Prerequisite(s): A minimum grade of C in ECO 3306.
Designed to acquaint the student with rudimentary mathematical techniques and their application to economic analysis.

5307 Economics of Aging
Open to graduate students in the Hankamer School of Business only with consent of the Associate Dean for Graduate Programs. For the non-economist, an examination of the economic implications of the changing age structure of the population, the economic status of the elderly, labor force participation and retirement decisions, pension issues, and other macroeconomic implications. The course will provide an agenda for both the present and future challenges facing policy makers, planners, program administrators, and researchers in the field.

5310 Macroeconomic Analysis in the Global Economy
Prerequisite(s): A minimum grade of C in ECO 5315.
This course analyzes national and global economic issues from a macroeconomic perspective. Topics include economic aggregates, interest rates, the balance of payments and exchange rates, aggregate production, economic growth, unemployment, consumption, investment, macroeconomic dynamics, monetary policy, and fiscal policy.

5314 Experimental Economics
Economics includes experimentation to test economic theories. In this class students will learn to apply the scientific method in the methodology and design of economic experiments. Class sessions will often include experiments so that students can both participate and run experiments that they design.

5315 Microeconomic Theory and Business Decisions
Prerequisite(s): Six semester hours of economics.
A seminar designed to cover aspects of micro theory that are relevant for decision making within the firm. Emphasis is placed on the decision-making process. Numerous problems, cases, and examples are used to illustrate the theory.

5317 Contemporary Government and Business Relations
Prerequisite(s): Six semester hours of economics.
An examination of the many ways in which government and business interact. Topics covered include the historical development of government regulations of business; the current state of antitrust enforcement; issues involving multinational corporations; the basis for regulated markets and forces favoring deregulation; the impact of consumer protection policies and affirmative action policies on business; and the outlook for government and business relations in the future.

5318 Game Theory
Prerequisite(s): Admission to graduate program in Economics or consent of instructor.
The theory of games and strategic behavior with an emphasis on applications. Strategic form games, extensive form games, and games of asymmetric and incomplete information. Equilibrium concepts. Applications in the social sciences, particularly economics and political science, ranging from cartel behavior to international diplomacy.

5319 Economics for Business Decisions and Resource Valuations
Prerequisite(s): ECO 4315 or 5315.
Applications of economic theory in the measurement and valuation of resources, including study of cost-benefit analysis in public and private investment decisions. Other topics include externalities, anti-trust, regulation, property rights, and uncertainty.

5320 The Economics of Government
Prerequisite(s): Six semester hours of economics.
Economic rationale and effect of various taxes, user pricing, and the role of government in the allocation of resources, stabilization of the economy, and redistribution of wealth.

5321 Energy Economics
(Cross-listed as ENV 5321)
Prerequisite(s): Six semester hours of economics.
Origins of the energy crisis, the effect of oil prices on inflation and the international monetary system, the origins and nature of OPEC, the economic feasibility of alternative energy sources, U.S. energy policy alternatives, and other current issues in the field of Energy Economics. A portion of the course is devoted to examining the energy industry in Texas and the Southwest.

5325 Seminar in Regional Economics
Prerequisite(s): Nine hours of economics or consent of instructor.
Adaptation of economic theory for use in regional economic analysis. Selected problems: urban renewal, transportation, plant location, individual location decisions, land use, regional economic growth, and structure.

5327 E-Commerce Economics
Prerequisite(s): Six hours of economics or consent of instructor.
This course applies tools of economic analysis to evaluate the evolving role of electronic commerce in the United States and world economies. The course addresses theories of firm conduct and performance in the electronic marketplace; the role of information and e-commerce intermediaries; the economics of Internet advertising; intellectual property rights of digital products; national and international public-policy issues of e-commerce; the financial and monetary implications of electronic trading; and the broader implications of e-commerce for U.S. and world economic activity.

5330 Problem Areas in International Economics
Prerequisite(s): ECO 3305 and FIN 3310; or BUS 5902; or consent of instructor.
World economy with particular emphasis upon emerging problems relating to the international monetary system, the trend toward economic regionalism, the growth of the less developed countries, and economic relations between private enterprise economies and state trading enterprises. Basic theories of international economics are developed as a framework for analysis of policy issues.

5333 Foreign Exchange Markets and International Monetary Institutions
(Cross-listed as FIN 5333)
Foreign exchange markets, emphasizing theoretical and empirical issues and their relation to the business environments. Topics include exchange rate regimes, efficiency, forecast measurement and management of foreign exchange risk forward and futures markets, options, swaps, and multicurrency bonds.

5334 Economic Development
Prerequisite(s): Six semester hours of economics.
Major issues involved in the process of development such as mass poverty, population growth, agricultural transformation, and trade.

5338 Seminar in World Economic Systems
Prerequisite(s): ECO 2305, 2306, 3305, or equivalent course work.
Economic institutions in a number of capitalist and socialist nations, and their relative success or failure presented in the context of country studies. Topics include the problems involved in making international statistical comparisons, the importance of the rise in the U.S. service sector, the operation of private and nationalized industries in Western Europe, lifetime employment in Japan, central planning in the Soviet Union, socialist economic reforms, international trade among and between Western and Eastern nations, and the convergence hypothesis.

5343 History of Economic Thought
Prerequisite(s): Nine semester hours of economics or consent of instructor.
Historical and analytical study of economic thought, beginning with Mercantilism and including the following schools of thought: Physiocratic, Classical, Marxian, Austrian, Neoclassical, Institutional, Keynesian, and Post-Keynesian.

5347 Econometrics
Prerequisite(s): Graduate standing.
Empirical estimation of economic relationships; behavioral (consumers), technical (firms), and institutional. It teaches proper use of linear estimation techniques along with problem identification and solution. Fee: $50

5349 Causal Inference
This class introduces students to the modern theory of "causal inference." We cover matching estimation, linear and nonlinear regression models, panel methods, differences-in-differences, synthetic control, instrumental variables and regression discontinuity.

5350 Health Economics
(Cross-listed as HPA 5350)
Prerequisite(s): ECO 5115 or 5315; or consent of instructor.
Application of economic principles to health care issues; examining economic efficiency in a variety of circumstances including the production and distribution of health services, health insurance, governmental programs, health care personnel and hospitals. Analysis of public in health and medical care from an economic perspective.

5360 Seminar in Corporate Finance
(Cross-listed as FIN 5360)
See FIN 5360 for course information.

5362 Seminar in Corporate Short-term Financial Management
(Cross-listed as FIN 5362)
See FIN 5362 for course information.

5365 Investment Management
(Cross-listed as FIN 5365)
See FIN 5365 for course information.

5368 Seminar in Financial Markets
(Cross-listed as FIN 5368)
See FIN 5368 for course information.

5370 Management of Financial Institutions
(Cross-listed as FIN 5370)
See FIN 5370 for course information.